A U.S. official briefed on the matter says U.S. intelligence agencies have assembled preliminary evidence that a bomb brought down the Russian airliner.
The official says intercepted communications played a role in the tentative conclusion that the Islamic State group's Sinai affiliate planted an explosive device on the plane.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, and others said there had been no formal judgment rendered by the CIA or other intelligence agencies, and that forensic evidence from the blast site, including the airplane's black box, were still being analyzed.
It was a Russian built cargo aircraft, having worked in the cargo airlines maintenance comes pretty low on the list of priorities particularly in Africa.
And, if we want to be technical, the Sinai A321 wasn't Russian, it was built in France and registered in Ireland.
The UK has halted all flights between Britain and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, saying there is a "significant possibility" an explosive device caused the Russian plane crash at the weekend.
""Amusing" is perhaps an inappropriate word to use but a yank satellite detected a heat flash from this aircraft whilst in flight yet when MH370 went walkabout the yanks claim to have seen nothing at all!"
This is totally wrong. My base was involved in the detection of foreign launches as well as underground explosions when I was in the Air Force. Because of that, the first thing that I noticed was how fast the missile was detected. The very next day of the MH370 crash was a claim by the US that it was brought down by a missile.
"The very next day of the MH370 crash was a claim by the US that it was brought down by a missile."
That's a new one we haven't heard before ... Then why haven't they found it if they know where it came down?
Regarding the A321 crash, there is speculation that it was a bomb and that ISIS have person(s) inside Smarm-el-Sheikh airport even suggesting that the bomb may have been placed on board in a catering trolley.
Well my guess would be that the airline carry round-trip catering, if there is any catering that is, ex SPb and perhaps all they might upload down route might be ice or similar.
But if it did take the tail off it would either be in the rear hold, self detonated in a rear toilet and I guess this is where they get the catering cart theory from, the catering trollies are stowed at the front and rear of the aircraft.
But, for the time being, this will pretty much close Sharm-el-Sheikh airport and the Red Sea resorts until they find out how any bomb got on board and how it got through security.
"UK news reporting Mr Putin has sent 4000 troops and a plethora of weapons, missiles etc to Syria this morning, ISIS have 100% rattled the wrong cage, now lets all sit back with some popcorn and enjoy their demise shall we?"
Now whether you yanks approve of it or not Obama doesn't need to take the lead in this show ... Go buy him some popcorn and tell him to sit back and watch the show!
"Russia and Egypt have urged caution over suggestions from the UK and US that a Russian airliner that crashed in Sinai on Saturday, killing 224 people, may have been bombed."
This becomes more and more intriguing, the inside of one of the rear passenger doors does show signs of what could be damage from shrapnel, from an explosion, however the FDR (Flight Data Recorder) records everything as normal until it abruptly stopped recording.
The FDR & CVR are located in the tail, to abruptly stop recording would indicate that the cabling was severed or that the FDR was no longer in the aircraft which goes along with the reporting that the tail detached from the fuselage at altitude.
For a bomb to severe this cabling would have to be a bloody good shot, it would be a first, and I believe it would be a first if it were a bomb that would have blown the tail off so immediately.
So this aircraft suffering a tailstrike back in 2001 remains in the frame.
Well the Brits claim to have intel that a bomb was placed in the baggage hold shortly before departure and the British PM did communicate this to Putin in the last day or two.
"The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the Russian plane that crashed in Egypt has confirmed there was an explosion on board Metrojet Airbus A321, French media reported Friday, citing an expert source.
Data from the CVR that was retrieved from the crash site in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has revealed that there was an explosion on board the flight, reported French weekly Le Point, quoting an unnamed expert.
“It was not a technical issue, but an outside action,” said the expert, suggesting the cause of the crash, which killed all 224 people on board, could be an explosion.
French investigators are part of an international team that includes Russian, German and Irish experts on the ground in Egypt."